Thompson's win solidifies; Kilpatrick requests runoff

Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 6:19 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 6:19 p.m.

When the smoke cleared Wednesday morning, Commissioner Tommy Thompson seemed safer in his primary victory over District 4 challenger Tim Griffin than it appeared election night.

Thompson held a razor-thin margin over Griffin of 139 votes at 9:30 p.m Tuesday, when the unofficial tally was posted at the Henderson County Board of Elections.

After election officials factored in roughly 78 curbside votes late Tuesday, Thompson gained another 41 votes to put him ahead by 161. Including curbsides, he'd won 50.71 percent of the vote to Griffin's 49.29 percent.

“In the commissioner's race, the Thompson/Griffin contest is not within the 1 percent of total votes cast to (initiate) a recount,” said Elections Director Beverly Cunningham. However, she cautioned that official numbers won't be known until Tuesday's canvass.

That canvass will factor in mail-in absentees that were postmarked by 5 p.m. Tuesday and received by election officials by 5 p.m. Friday, Cunningham said, as well as provisional ballots. She said her office has received roughly five provisional ballots, and 15-20 absentees have arrived so far.

Meanwhile, register of deeds candidate Evona Kilpatrick let Cunningham know she wants a runoff in her close primary contest, which originally showed the veteran paralegal trailing opponent Lee King by just 97 votes.

“It's not automatic,” said Cunningham. “By law, the second-place person has to request a runoff.”

Tuesday's unofficial results had King with 4,376 votes, or 39.77 percent, to Kilpatrick's 4,279, or 38.89 percent. By Wednesday morning, including curbside ballots, King had edged slightly closer to the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

King now has 4,406 votes, or 39.84 percent, to Kilpatrick's 4,298, or 38.86 percent. A third register of deeds hopeful, Shannon Baldwin, took 21.29 percent of the votes.

“You just never know how it's going to turn out,” Kilpatrick said Wednesday morning, after indicating she would seek a runoff. “You just work as hard as you can and hope for the best. I think we had three good candidates.”

As he yanked up campaign signs from polling sites Wednesday, King said he remains hopeful that he can pick up enough provisional and absentee ballots to preclude a second primary.

“Sixteenth-hundredths of a percent, it's like walking a tightrope,” he said. “I think that shows you had three good candidates. I'd love to see it creep above 40 percent, if that's possible. That's what I'm hoping for. But if that doesn't happen, we'll go to Plan B.”

A glitch in the state's new Election Reporting System program displayed an inaccurate amount of precincts reported on the State Board of Elections website Tuesday. County election officials also noticed a lag in uploaded vote totals shown by the state site.

“By the end of the night, it had caught up and everything was accurate,” Cunningham said. “There was never a question of the number being accurate on our end. It was just the link between our system and the state website. Hopefully, the state will continue to improve on what they started.”

Other than that, Cunningham said election night went smoothly for her office.

“There were no big surprises,” she said. “The voting machines worked perfect, the poll workers were great. It was pretty typical for a primary election.”

As of Wednesday morning, a total of 15,094 people had voted in the Henderson County primary. That's a 15 increase over the last off-year primary election in 2010.

<p>When the smoke cleared Wednesday morning, Commissioner Tommy Thompson seemed safer in his primary victory over District 4 challenger Tim Griffin than it appeared election night. </p><p>Thompson held a razor-thin margin over Griffin of 139 votes at 9:30 p.m Tuesday, when the unofficial tally was posted at the Henderson County Board of Elections.</p><p>After election officials factored in roughly 78 curbside votes late Tuesday, Thompson gained another 41 votes to put him ahead by 161. Including curbsides, he'd won 50.71 percent of the vote to Griffin's 49.29 percent.</p><p>“In the commissioner's race, the Thompson/Griffin contest is not within the 1 percent of total votes cast to (initiate) a recount,” said Elections Director Beverly Cunningham. However, she cautioned that official numbers won't be known until Tuesday's canvass.</p><p>That canvass will factor in mail-in absentees that were postmarked by 5 p.m. Tuesday and received by election officials by 5 p.m. Friday, Cunningham said, as well as provisional ballots. She said her office has received roughly five provisional ballots, and 15-20 absentees have arrived so far.</p><p>Meanwhile, register of deeds candidate Evona Kilpatrick let Cunningham know she wants a runoff in her close primary contest, which originally showed the veteran paralegal trailing opponent Lee King by just 97 votes.</p><p>“It's not automatic,” said Cunningham. “By law, the second-place person has to request a runoff.”</p><p>Tuesday's unofficial results had King with 4,376 votes, or 39.77 percent, to Kilpatrick's 4,279, or 38.89 percent. By Wednesday morning, including curbside ballots, King had edged slightly closer to the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.</p><p>King now has 4,406 votes, or 39.84 percent, to Kilpatrick's 4,298, or 38.86 percent. A third register of deeds hopeful, Shannon Baldwin, took 21.29 percent of the votes.</p><p>“You just never know how it's going to turn out,” Kilpatrick said Wednesday morning, after indicating she would seek a runoff. “You just work as hard as you can and hope for the best. I think we had three good candidates.”</p><p>As he yanked up campaign signs from polling sites Wednesday, King said he remains hopeful that he can pick up enough provisional and absentee ballots to preclude a second primary. </p><p>“Sixteenth-hundredths of a percent, it's like walking a tightrope,” he said. “I think that shows you had three good candidates. I'd love to see it creep above 40 percent, if that's possible. That's what I'm hoping for. But if that doesn't happen, we'll go to Plan B.”</p><p>A glitch in the state's new Election Reporting System program displayed an inaccurate amount of precincts reported on the State Board of Elections website Tuesday. County election officials also noticed a lag in uploaded vote totals shown by the state site. </p><p>“By the end of the night, it had caught up and everything was accurate,” Cunningham said. “There was never a question of the number being accurate on our end. It was just the link between our system and the state website. Hopefully, the state will continue to improve on what they started.”</p><p>Other than that, Cunningham said election night went smoothly for her office.</p><p>“There were no big surprises,” she said. “The voting machines worked perfect, the poll workers were great. It was pretty typical for a primary election.”</p><p>As of Wednesday morning, a total of 15,094 people had voted in the Henderson County primary. That's a 15 increase over the last off-year primary election in 2010.</p><p>For the latest primary results, visit www.hendersoncountync.org/elections.</p><p>___</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>